


To kill a prince (or two)

by Canadiantardis



Series: Whumptober 2020 [7]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Death Threats, Depression, Gen, Janus and Patton are like mentioned, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, One Shot, Separations, There's a lot of talk about death and dying, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26435563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadiantardis/pseuds/Canadiantardis
Summary: Remus always thought he hated his brother.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Series: Whumptober 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920886
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40





	To kill a prince (or two)

**Author's Note:**

> Day 7: Support  
> Creatitwins angst is probably my favourite angst to write for this fandom. Absolutely so fun to write.

Remus always thought he hated his brother. Born first, Roman got everything handed to him, while Remus was pushed into his shadow that only grew larger and larger. Their parents always made the birthday celebrations following what _Roman_ wanted, and Remus was lucky to get a well-wish or a present that wasn’t for both of them.

Remus hated his brother. He was lousy with a sword. Well, they both were, but at least Remus understood that he was terrible with swords and changed weapons to learn that wasn’t as precise as the blade. Yet his dumb brother persisted in learning how to wield a weapon he couldn’t make work. Remus always thought he’d be better with something a little more damaging, like a battle ax, or even some hand axes. Not that he ever spoke those thoughts aloud. Roman wouldn’t listen to that anyway. He thought sword fighting was essential for a Crowned Prince to learn.

The worst thing, however, and the thing that Remus hated the most about his brother, was the fact he was too kind. He never held his status over him. He always wanted Remus around, and he would feel guilty if he did something that Remus wasn’t invited to join in on.

It would have made hating Roman so much easier if he hadn’t been so kind and thoughtful towards Remus.

“Remus, come with me to the pond! It’s so peaceful, and we never just hang out anymore,” Roman took his brother’s hands and gently pulled, his large eyes almost pleading for him to say yes.

Remus, however, pulled his arms away, shaking his head.

Roman let out a dramatic breath, a hand over his chest before he put it to his forehead. “My own twin has betrayed me,” he dropped his hands to his sides. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to see some dumb body of water, unless we’re drowning someone,” talking about gruesome things had been the only way to get his brother to leave him alone, but today seemed different.

“But we haven’t spent time together in over a month,” Roman pouted, and damn him, Remus hated his pout. “I miss hanging out with you.”

“Ugh, gross,” Remus slumped forward. His brother wouldn’t stop with the kicked-puppy routine until he agreed. “Fine, I’ll go with you to the dumb puddle.”

“Yes! Hurry, hurry! Before the guards make us go to lessons instead!” Roman took his brother by the hand and pulled him along.

They both easily slipped by any of the guards they passed, stopping by the kitchen for a couple small loaves of bread to eat along the way. The baker’s son looked put-out he couldn’t join them when Roman told him where they were going, but waved happily as they hurried out before a guard saw them.

Leaving the castle was simple for the both of them, though it was a bit more difficult to slip over the walls. Still, they managed without getting caught and Roman hurried along ahead like an excited puppy. Remus wondered if it would kill his brother to not be so annoyingly happy and excited all the time.

“Here, it’s here! Hurry up!” Roman called behind him, the sunniest smile on his face as he moved aside so Remus could see the pond he was supposed to be seeing.

It was rather nice, in a very Roman-esque way. Much larger than a puddle, and secluded enough that it would be difficult to find unless you knew where to go. It was… actually kinda cool how Roman managed to find this place.

“It’s not too cold, too! I don’t know if we’re near those, uh… warm spots underground, what did Teach tell us they were?” Roman asked, sitting by the edge of the water and yanking his boots off, Remus approaching from the side lazily. “Because it’s hard for the sun to get through all the trees around here to actually warm it up.”

Remus grunted, and waited until both of Roman’s boots were beside him before he kicked him in. Roman yelped loudly as he flailed his way into the water, coming up with a gasp and a betrayed look at his brother while Remus lost his shit laughing.

“At _least_ give me some warning!” He complained, treading water. “And how are we going to play this off, hm? There isn’t a cloud in the sky to blame on rain.”

Remus continued to laugh, doubling over until he could hardly breathe. “Your, _ha,_ mistake bringing me here!” He gasped breathlessly around his cackling.

“Ugh, you’re so mean.” Roman pouted, splashing water at Remus, or as close as he could get. “Get in here so we can have a proper water duel, you rogue!”

Remus hummed in mock-thought, before he shook his head. “Hmm, let me think abou-no. I don’t think I will,” he announced with a smirk.

Roman pouted before he pushed up out of the water and grabbed at his brother. He managed to catch his trousers and yanked, causing Remus to stumble forward with a yell as he collided with Roman and they both fully submerged into the water. Remus was only a little happy his trousers hadn’t fallen around his knees in the entire thing.

They both bobbed back up, spluttering out water before the real battle began, and for the first time in a long while, Remus forgot to hate his brother. For once, they weren’t princes, they weren’t waited upon. They were just Roman and Remus, twin brothers having a water fight and fooling around in the pond.

They must have been playing for hours when Roman pointed out the sun was beginning to set.

“We must be so wrinkly now,” Remus mused with a laugh as Roman made a face.

Roman got out of the water first, shaking his entire body like a wet dog and Remus cackled, surging up out of the water to do the same thing.

“So, what _is_ going to be the excuse about this?” He asked, gesturing at their waterlogged clothes and dripping hair. The only things that were slightly dry were Roman’s boots.

“I don’t know,” Roman shook his head with a warm smile that mirrored Remus’ own bright smile. “Maybe we should just accept we’re going to be in so much trouble when the guards catch us.”

“Oh, you’ll be in trouble, alright,” a voice spoke behind the both of them and they shouted in alarm, about to twist around when hands snatched around them and pulled them apart.

The water helped make them both a little more slippery, but the two had been playing and using all their energy in the water, so their movements were sluggish until they stopped completely when something sharp pressed against each of their throats.

“What do you want?” Remus demanded.

“Surely you can tell what’s going on,” the voice said, and the person stepped forward, a rough-looking man who could easily pass as a bandit on appearance alone, looking to one twin than the other with a cold smile. “Both princes, alone without a single guard, unarmed, in a secluded part of the forest that’s a fair distance from the castle itself and isolated? This is probably the easiest pickings we’ve ever been on.”

“Let us go,” Roman demanded, wriggling against the people who held him tight.

“Feisty, aren’t you, your highness?” The leader asked, looming over Roman and grabbing his chin, forcing him to look up at him. “Children should be more careful in the woods this late.”

Roman yanked his head back, and Remus saw he thumped against the man that held the knife to his throat. Their captors only laughed, which made him mad. Only he was allowed to laugh at Roman doing something stupid.

“What are you planning, then? Keep us for ransom? Sell us?” Remus questioned, turning the attention to himself.

The leader looked at him, amused. “We’re going to leave a very important message to your father. And what better message than the body of one of his sons?”

Both twins paled, though Remus wasn’t sure if it was in fear for his own life or for Roman’s. Maybe it was for both of them. They started to struggle anew, adrenaline giving them a bit more energy but the knives at their throats made escape almost impossible. Remus stopped when he felt the blade pierce his skin, his heart hammering.

“A good attempt, your highnesses, but you’ll have to try harder than that. Don’t worry, we won’t be doing this right now. What’s the fun in kidnapping only one prince?” Their captors laughed at the leader’s words. “Let’s head back to camp.”

Remus and Roman struggled the entire way, and somehow along the way, Roman lost both his boots. He must not have put them on properly before they had been ambushed. Remus hoped someone would find them and recognize whose they belonged to. Maybe that baker’s son, he knew where they had been going. What was his name, Padre? Parsley? Something with ‘Pa’ at the beginning, Remus knew.

They were soon brought to a camp that held more bandits than the group that caught them, who all turned to see what their leader brought back. Remus refused to pay them any mind. They were brought into a tent near the center of camp and shackled to the ground. Their captors made sure neither of them would be able to pull the pin out of the ground before the two were left alone in the camp.

Roman turned to Remus, fear and regret clashing across his expression. “I shouldn’t have brought you to the pond. I’m so stupid,” he whispered.

“Would you have gone by yourself?” Remus asked instead of anything else he had meant to say. At Roman’s silence, and his regret paling away, Remus frowned. “This would have still happened but you would be alone in this shit-hole.”

He wasn’t sure why he was trying to reassure Roman. By all means, this would be the perfect way to make his traitorous heart actually hate his brother for getting them in this situation, but he couldn’t. Roman hadn’t meant for them to get caught by asshole bandits, it wasn’t like this was intentional.

“Are you okay, Ro?” He asked before Roman could speak again.

“I’m… scared,” Roman spoke quietly, hunching himself into a small ball, the chains jingling as he moved. “I’m… really scared, if I can be honest.”

“Yeah… yeah, I am too,” Remus admitted. “But we’re not dead yet. That should… that should count for something, right? We’re still together in this.”

Roman scoffed a laugh. “Your optimism is impeccable.”

“Thank you, I’ve been working very hard on it,” Remus scooted over to his brother, leaning against him until they were leaning against the other, supporting the other through this in their own ways.

They lapsed into silence, unsure of what they could do to get out of this mess.

* * *

The two were taken out of the country over the course of a week of travel. They were bound and gagged and stuffed into large bags, put in a wagon with all the bandits’ other stuff like food and cloth. They were only given something to eat when they woke up and in the late evening. When the bandits stopped for lunch, the two were still in their bags and would have to wait until the group stopped for the night to be taken out of the bags.

Neither fought too hard against their captors, especially when their twin was within sight and not at all ready for an escape attempt. It was frustrating, Remus found, wanting to escape but unable to without Roman. He wanted to really despise him over the course of the travels, but, like every other time Remus tried to really hate him, his heart just wasn’t in it.

On the fifth day, as the wagon was making its way to the border, the group had been stopped by their country’s guards. _A border patrol?_

“We have orders to check you aren’t bringing anything illegal over,” a guard said. “What do you have?”

“Mostly food for ourselves. We’re simply travelling,” the leader - Arthur, they'd learned - said. “The essentials for travelling. Food, blankets, tents, gear, all that stuff.”

“Okay. We’ll take a quick look and you may go,” the guard said as someone began shuffling through the gear around them.

Remus had the same idea at the same time as Roman, and the two began wriggling in their bags, their protests muffled but not silent. The shuffling stopped before steps made their way over closer to them.

It was Remus’ bag that was opened first, and he blinked at the daylight after being shut off in a dark bag for days. Both he and the guard above him looked surprised for a moment, but before the guard could do anything, Remus’ blood ran cold as a bandit appeared behind him with a dagger. He shouted behind the gag, struggling against his bonds uselessly as the bandit stabbed the guard in the neck, and around them, the sounds of alarmed shouts and metal against metal filled the air. Remus could only stare at the guard that had seen him as the life left his eyes and he slumped backwards, out of his line of sight. The bandit only smirked down at him before putting the bag back over all of him.

“Such a waste,” Arthur said after the scuffle ended. Remus couldn’t stop seeing the guard’s eyes, every time he closed his eyes.

“Oh, you were just itching to do them in. You were waiting for them to notice the brats,” another bandit cackled.

“Yes, but it’s still such a waste. Leave them here. Take what you want from them,” Arthur told his group, and within minutes they were moving again.

Remus wouldn’t realize he had been crying until he was taken out of the bag and his brother was allowed to hold him close, unknowing of what he had just witnessed at the border patrol. He knew what must have happened, but - and Remus was never going to tell him - he wouldn’t know what Remus had seen.

It was the first night the two weren’t tied up along with being shackled to the ground. The brothers fell asleep with their limbs tangled together.

Their captors allowed them a tiny bit more freedom in terms of not being completely immobile when they stopped for the night as they continued to travel. They were still bound and gagged and stuffed in bags for the day, unable to do anything but listen to the world around them move and wait for the sun to set so they could be out of the bags and could at least see the world around them.

Remus had little idea about where they were, only knowing they were no longer in their own country’s - Samhlaíocht’s- borders. Roman said they must be in Taobh, which was the closest country to where the castle was. Remus only a little wished he had paid more attention to those geography lessons, or even those lessons about who liked their country and who wanted their family dead in a ditch because of dumb stupid tensions like disputes over land or ancestor rights or whatever the fuck Teach told them during these lessons. Neither remembered much about those lessons, anyway, except that Taobh was a neighbouring country

The bandits appeared to be returning to their home base, at least that was what it sounded like to the two when they could overhear any of the conversations their captors had. They sounded happy to be getting back, and a strange, uneasy feeling twisted Remus’ guts in knots unpleasantly. He had no idea if they would kill one of them once they reached that base or just how much longer they would keep the two together. He would never admit it, but he couldn’t stand the thought of one of them without the other. The idea of Roman living without him to bother and pretend to hate sounded scary, but it was scarier to think of Remus living without his brother to be there for him, even after every attempt to make it look like he couldn’t stand him.

“Bring them downstairs,” Arthur’s voice suddenly cut through Remus’ panic, and the two were lifted up and carried… somewhere. Likely the downstairs the leader had ordered them to be taken to.

They were taken out of their bags and unbound before an ankle shackle was attached to them, the end bolted to the floor. Remus looked around the room, but found it was fairly small and barren. It looked like it only held captives, and no more than a dozen if they weren’t allowed to move much. It was empty except for them.

They were left alone, fully alone, for the first time then. The ones who brought them down here left without another look. Remus guessed they were confident in the fact neither could escape even if they tried really hard. It pissed him off they thought of the two as so weak, didn’t matter that they were objectively correct because the two had been given very little food and could barely walk by themselves after weeks of captivity and forced to lay down every day.

Roman sighed shakily and sank to the floor, bringing his legs to his chest as he ran a hand through his tangled hair. Remus knew how much his brother normally cared about his appearance, and had a feeling his rumpled outfit and knotted hair distressed him more than he let on.

“I had been hoping for a rescue before we got here,” he muttered, dropping the hand from his hair and wrapping his arms around his legs. “Do you think they had been able to follow a trail? Surely they would have been able to figure out by the boots and whatever they did to those border guards…” He bit his lip, and in a quiet, child-like tone, spoke up. “Do you think we’re going to die here?”

Remus sat down and wrapped his arms around his brother before he could even think of a response. The entire journey, Roman had been quiet, as had Remus, about the fact the bandits said they planned on killing one of them and keeping the other for ransom. There had been nothing to say about it without giving into fears neither twin wanted to admit, and ever since the border guard incident, Remus had been trying - and failing - to completely blot out the fact one of them would likely see the other get killed.

Roman melted into the embrace, his shoulders shaking and Remus felt the wet splotches appear on his rumpled shirt. All he did was hold his brother closer. It was rare for the younger brother to need to comfort the older. Remus could recall maybe two times before where he had to comfort Roman, but he knew Roman had comforted _him_ several dozen times because that was just how he was. He always wanted to be there for Remus and when he was needed he was there gladly and without a smarmy comment about whatever it was that upset Remus so much that he needed to be comforted. He was there with a smile, a hug that took away all the hurt, and a listening ear for Remus to rant and rave about whatever it was until he felt free.

Remus did his best to replicate the hug, wanting to get rid of all the hurt. He wasn’t sure how successful he was, but dammit he was trying. That had to count for _something._

* * *

They were kept in the room for another two weeks before the leader Arthur came down to see them. During that time, they were given a little better food than what they had been given on the road, and the two could walk around, although it was a halting sort of walk with the heavy shackle and chain weighing down on one ankle. They would talk a bit but the conversations always veered too close to the situation in which one of them would be alone forever since it was likely impossible for them to be saved in time.

“Seems it’s finally time, your highnesses,” he smirked down at them from where they had been sitting down and dozing.

Remus felt Roman’s hand grab his sleeve tightly, almost ripping the worn fabric. Remus watched Arthur without reacting outwardly, though inwardly his stomach became a twisted pit, filling with dread and ice.

“Now, who to pick, who to pick,” Arthur asked himself, tapping his chin. He looked amused and all Remus hoped for in the world was for this man to be hanged once he was caught. He’d spit on his unmarked grave with relish. “I guess it doesn’t totally matter either way. One stays and lives, the other dies.”

He looked down at the two, staring at them with so much amusement, enjoying how he frightened them before his eyes stayed on Remus.

“Gin, Jere, come here,” he called behind him, and two other bandits made their way down to the room. “Grab that one. He’ll be making his final trip home to send that message for us.”

He was pointing at Roman.

Remus fought hard, grabbing and holding his brother with all of his measly strength as Roman was unshackled and they were pulled apart. He scratched and bit and clawed at anyone who wasn’t Roman, even as one turned to him and fought back, yanking his head back and tripping him to the floor, kicking whatever part of Remus they could get to.

“Remus!” Roman cried as he was taken away.

“Roma _-ahh!”_ He barely got the shout out before a lucky kick to the head knocked him out.

When he came to, he was alone.

* * *

Remus felt like he was going to go insane. Since Roman had been taken, he had been alone, the only human interaction was when the bandits came to give him his food and water, and they barely spoke. Not that Remus wanted to talk to them, but there were moments he just wanted to hear another person’s voice for a couple minutes.

Maybe even hear his own voice.

He hadn’t said a peep since Roman was taken. It was like the kick to the head had broken his ability to speak. That, or, he couldn’t find it in him to say anything.

He also hadn’t tried to move much except to grab the food and water from the tray just within his reach, but as soon as he finished, he’d return to the piece of ground he had decided he would stay at until he joined Roman.

Time lost its hold on him. The food was the same, there were no windows or any way to tell the time of day and the bandits only gave him meals twice a day, or at least he assumed it was twice a day. It could even be once a day and the days were tiresomely long. Nothing felt… real, anymore. It couldn’t be real. Why should he be alive while Roman was being sent back home as a rotting corpse? Why would this possibly be reality? The Gods above wouldn’t just kill his brother like that, so… unjustly, unheroic-ly.

Wouldn’t they?

Remus ‘slept’ in possibly the loosest sense of the word. Meaning, he stayed up for as long as he could, crashed, and had nightmares until he woke up and started the entire thing over again. He knew he had to look absolutely horrible and skeleton-like and ghostly, but whatever sense of caring had been taken the same way he had lost his brother. It was dead and gone and Remus was likely never to see it again.

And he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He couldn’t bring himself to care even when he distantly heard the sounds of fighting. Fighting and rapid footfalls and then silence.

Silence, and then the heavy footsteps walking down the stairs towards him. Remus did not even open his eyes to see who it was.

He was a little confused when whoever it was gently picked him up, checking his pulse, wiping the hair from his forehead, holding him close, but still, he refused to open his eyes, refused to allow his body to do anything. He saw no point. It wasn’t like he was ever going to return to normal, because normal meant he was still the younger brother of the Crown Prince and he could pretend to despise him despite never being able to actually succeed in that.

Remus fell in and out of consciousness after that. He would wake up on the road, in a cot, or under a tent, then in the familiar infirmary. He saw his father then, great big tears pouring down his face. He saw familiar guards, and the squire his age, Janus, and the baker’s son with enough relief and tears down his face to drown a village.

He saw Roman. He was sure _this_ was a dream, or maybe a nightmare? Most of the dreams Remus had of his brother were nightmares lately. But this time, it was softer. Maybe his mind had taken pity on him finally and gave him a bittersweet dream to sour over.

Roman stood by his bed, looking paler than normal. He had a deep scar across his face and down his neck, like he had been in a knife fight without any weapon himself. He crawled up beside Remus and lay beside him, holding his brother close.

Normally, Remus never heard anyone speak in his dreams. They never did, probably because he was bad at thinking up what someone would say that wasn’t gross or unusual, and yet… This time, Roman opened his mouth and spoke.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

When Remus realized it wasn’t a dream, he cried.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [ LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
> Feedback
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> This author replies to comments.


End file.
